Chalmean People
The Chalmeans, [endonym Chálmè Bêwísto, lit. the Civilized Folk, the Orderly Folk] are the most numerous and technologically advanced of the human groups that inhabit the Chalmean landmass. They are farmers as well as hunter gatherers with a seminomadic lifestyle who speak Bixînke . Overview They are concentrated along the south-eastern coast of the landmass, mainly in coastal or fluvial areas. The Chalmean islands are mostly covered in thick tropical rainforest, but the southernmost regions of it have been deforestated as a consequence of human activities, either intentionally or as a consequence of accidental forest fires. They are semisedentary and inhabit relatively large (100~300 people) settlements that are not really dense and organized along family-based barrios, but they have a significant migratory population of young men. The women, girls and young boys live in longhouses made out of stone and woven branches, generally more than one family per longhouse, while adult men reside alone in small workshop-houses called Lesâc. Around 15% of men are polyginous. Political power is shared between two headmen; the Málakû and the Seblécû, which translate roughly as Great Hunter and Great General. A woman may be Seblécii (masc. Seblécû), but the Málacû is always a man. They have semi-inherited slavery, but slaves are owned by the community and not by individuals. Phisical Characteristics and Biotypes The Chalmean phisiology is fairly heterogeneous, likely because of the multiple genetic origins of the current population. Chalmea was populated by three groups, of which one of them adquired cultural hegemony during the mesolithic and eventually galvanized the culture of the southeastern coast through trade and exogamous marriage. Typically, ethnic Chalmeans, which can be found from the southern tip of the island up the western coast and across the oceans, in the southern coast of the continent to the north, are generally tall, measuring around 1,75 for men and 1,69 for women, have long legs and arms, thick, dense bones and broad shoulders. Facially they are dolichocephalic, have square jaws, retracted smooth foreheads and small mouths and eyes. They have tanned skins and green eyes and straight noses that point downwards. Culture main article: neolithic Chalmean culture Chalmeans are relatively monogamous, wear little clothing and marry relatively late, around 15 to 20 for both sexes. There are complicated initiation rituals for boys, which traditionally involve traveling long distances and bringing back proof of their journeys, having sex with the village shaman, and killing large predatorial animals. They are rather patriarchal and have a sense of private and familial property, and sometimes, practice slavery. Mythology and Religion ''main article: Chalmean Religion '' Chalmeans are restricted-pantheon polytheists; they worship four spiritual entities and believe that all others are indeed demons created by Akûnaxá, the trickster spirit. The four spirits, or gods, worshipped by Chalmeans are Mâkexí, Akûnaxá, Séba, and Loxontô. Mâkexí is a motherly female spirit which commands the earth, the rains, and growth of crops. She is told to have created the world and all animals as a gift to her husband, Séba, the sun god. Akûnaxá is the trickster spirit and daughter of Séba and Mâkexí. She is a young woman who spends all her time dreaming, and it is from her dreams from where all the dreams, inspirations, fears and ideas come to men. She is in love with one of her dreams, the dashing Loxontô. Loxontô was originally a dream of Akûnaxá, but so much did she dream of him and so much did she love him that during one of her dreams she made love with him so much she woke up pregnant with him. She is Loxontô's mother, wife, and creator, but he is young and new, and as his mother's son he has wonderlust and a restless spirit, so he frequently comes down to earth and has affairs with mortales. The offspring of such unions are either demigods or, if Akûnaxá realizes that she's been fooled, accursed demons. Chalmeans are animists, and female witch doctors are the main liaison with the spirit world in their religion. Sex, blood, death and rebirth are very prominent in rituals and in magic. Female shamans are the main channels with the spirit world. Healing magic is based on the bargaining with the restless spirits, or demons, that cause illness, while protective magic is about securing the favour of the spirits of ancestors or of the gods. The gods are believed to directly intervene in the lives of people, but generally in subtle ways, as they are the rulers of the spirit world. Economy While domestic economy has always been a part of Chalmean dialy life, and indeed most of the goods that a typical Chalmean uses or consumes have been produced by their own family, the last two hundred years, with the development of agricultural techniques such as planting rice, as well as culinary technology like cooking it in boiling water, have seen a dramatic rise in inter-tribal trade and, therefore, a true non-domestic economic sector has arisen. Domestic Domestic economy here mans economic activity where production and consumption happens within the same djóko, where resource allocation and surplus distribution is determined through the informal leadership of family elders. Goods and services within the domestic economy never leave the djóko , and generally don't leave the producer's immediate social circle: mothers producing clothing for their sons, daughters repairing their fathers' fishing nets, grandmothers cookig for their grandsons. Familial solidarity articulates the greater part of a band's dialy life. Commercial Their economics consist of a mixed agricultural and hunter-gatherer matrix, in different proportions depending on the regions; the people from the north, where Jungle and Woodland are more common and where soil is worse, tend to rely more heavily on gathering and hunting, while the southern Chalmeans grow their food more. A native kind of wild rice is the most common crop grown,but vegetables like sweet potatoes, onions, garlic and figs are cultivated too. There is also a significant degree of wild tree silviculture, where people care for, clean up, and even talk to, naturally-ocurring trees of particular economic value, such as fruit trees or those where useful fungi grow. Seminomadic rice agriculture performed in flooded fields where native rice is grown is the main non-domestic economic activity in Chalmean society. While every djóko does its own hunting, gathering, vegetable gardening, and many crafts in order to satisfy their own internal demand, only agriculture, trade, masonry and pottery are truly commercial activities in the sense that the djóko (bands, clans, communities) that specialize in them trade their production for everyday goods with other communities that need their services or products. Agriculture is by far the largest non-domestic economic sector, and around 40% of people belong to a lechê djóko, a seminomadic agricultural community that produces rice and migrates to a new place every 10-30 years. Category:People Category:Isle of Chalmea